Tuesday, July 12, 2011

As it so happens, I had dinner earlier this evening with the friend I went on the hike I've already put up two photo-essays of (here and here). But it was only after I got back to my apartment and prepared to put up a third photo-essay of the hike along Lantau Trail Stage 10, then down the old Tung Chung Road to Lower Cheung Sha Beach via South Lantau Road that I got to thinking that maybe I should ask her why we haven't gone hiking together again since!

Was it all the spiders we saw on the hike? Or the hike being lengthier than she had expected (even while easy enough in that it was largely on level ground or downhill)? In any event, too bad -- since I thought it was a pleasant enough day out... and one that yielded a number of photos that I reckon are nice enough to look at and share (with visitors to this blog though not willingly with those who put them on their own blogs in order to financially profit from doing so)!

Another friend e-mailed me to register her horrorat the number of spider pics on my blog -- but,in all honesty, I think these creatures are fascinatingand the webs they weave often amazing and beautiful!

The single lane Old Tung Chung Road in the foreground,the significantly wider New Tung Chung Road in thebackground, and a paraglider appearing as not muchlarger than a small speck in the blue sky above

Hong Kong -- particularly Lantau -- truly is a placewhere unusual flora as well as fauna can be spotted

It was close to sunset when we gotto Lower Cheung Sha Beach

So after taking a few more photos like this one,we settled down to dinner at The Stoep before making our way home to other, more urban parts of Hong Kong

To answer your queries re Lantau residents: here's letting you know that my friend who I refer to as "my regular hiking companion" lives in Lantau as do a few of my colleagues. So based on that, I'd say people who don't mind long commutes -- though actually they might not be as difficult as you think since those small enclaves are close to a road that buses go on and can take people to Mui Wo (where there's a direct ferry to Central) or Tung Chung (from where they can catch the MTR as well as buses plying other routes).